Pages

March 16, 2015

Serve up the luck of the Irish with this delicious vintage cake recipe

No matter if one celebrates St. Patrick's Day tomorrow or not, its fair to say that there are few (if any!) amongst us who wouldn't welcome more luck into our lives and by the same token, don't feel extra lucky when spring starts to break out of its cocoon again and suddenly all the world is alive with greenery, sunshine and warm days again (a point I couldn’t be happier about!).

Though that mark may still be a few more weeks in the making for some (very much including for many of my fellow canucks), we start to bring that same sort of upbeat loveliness into our homes with our culinary choices. The very first tender shoots of bracingly crisp asparagus, thimble sized strawberries, tender lettuce leaves, waxy skinned new potatoes, and a little latter on, tart, juicy blueberries and raspberries, amongst many others, will all let us know that winter's icy powers have retreated for a while and that its time to celebrate how lucky we are that such is the case once more.

If you are a fan of getting your Irish on, so to speak, then the shamrock imagery on this classic mid-century vintage chocolate cake and seven minute frosting recipe will appeal to you all the more and would help this dessert make for a fabulous March 17th dinner party star of the show.

{This charmingly lovely Lucky Clover Cake is quick, easy, and relatively inexpensive to make, while also packing a punch on the festive St. Paddy's Day front. You could easily turn it into cupcakes, too, adorning each with its own little green shamrock. Image via Click America.}

As usual when it comes to cakes, if (like me) you walk a gluten-free path, by all means use your favourite GF cake mix or recipe here. If (again, like moi) you aren't able to eat eggs either for medical or personal dietary reasons, ditch the seven-minute frosting and use any icing you prefer here instead. A lovely cream cheese frosting is always a great choice for springtime cakes and I wouldn't be adverse to skipping the icing all together and simply dusting the shape of a shamrock or other sign of spring on top of this cake with a handmade paper stencil and some powdered sugar.

If however, you're really craving the taste of seven-minute frosting, but aren't able to have eggs, then may I suggest using a vegan version of marshmallow cream blended into a fluffy basic white icing as an alternative? I've done this a few times myself over the years and it really is a very good substitute for the real deal that non-vegans/egg-free folks always seem to enjoy tucking into as much as I do. There are a few versions of vegan marshmallow creme on the market (please note that I can't say for sure whether all of them are also gluten-free or not; as always be sure to read labels and/or email or call the company when in doubt), one of which is Suzanne's Ricemellow Cream (which is gluten and dairy-free).

I would mention that the vegan marshmallow creams I've had over the years have all been very, very, very sweet, so I would perhaps cut a little bit of sugar in the cake recipe or forewarn your family/guests to prefer for a particularly saccharine frosting here. Not, mind you, that such a point will put some people off. A big hit of sugar is sometimes just what a special occasion calls for and St. Patrick's Day certainly falls into that camp for many around the world.

May the luck of the Irish be with all of you as the world awakes to a new season - and may each day of spring be as sweet and lovely as this vintage cake recipe is! :)

21 comments:

I've got to remember the marshmallow cream tip for my vegan friend - baking for the two of us is a bit of a nightmare with me GF and her vegan... So far our attempts have had somewhat limited success! Although I bought her Ms Cupcake's baking book for Christmas and it seems to be absolutely amazing. If you haven't read that yet, I highly recommend it (Ms Cupcake is one stylish vintage lady too, which makes the book particularly eye-candyful!) x

I must say: this cake is right up my alley, Jessica.I hold every ingredient that I like, and I do think there should be some way for me to dig up a "holiday" - in order to give myself excuse o treat my family with this delicious thing.About te filling: in my family we are the firm believers that nothing gets wasted, so instead of pondering "what to o with egg whites" - I'll try to make a substitute for it.. or just pull a "poor man's filling" - and that, my dear is: a generous amount of jam. :)

I love this cake and especially the frosting. I make it for my Mid 80's father and it is my requested cake for my birthday.

On another note, Jessica, would you please uninvite me from joining you on Linkin. I dont do social media due to privacy issues and past experience has shown that Linkin will hound me to accept your kind invitation. Thanks Morning Waters

How lovely that you're going to make this cake for your Dad. I hope he adores it!

I can try, for sure, but I'm not sure if that site lets you retract an invite (if that isn't possible, you can just send the messages to your spam filter and that you avoid you having to see them any longer). LinkedIn recently prompted me to invite/connect with a ton of my Gmail contacts there, which I did and that's how you would have gotten an invite from me. I can certainly appreciate and admire your desire to avoid social media, as well as to maintain a high degree of privacy online, and sincerely apologize if this invite upset you in any way.

Really interesting post! I will definitely keep that frosting tip in mind the next time I'm making vegan icing. I would never have thought to use marshmallow cream, which was one of my favorite things when I was a kid! Seriously, if you haven't tried it, a marshmallow fluff/peanut butter/banana sandwich is like something dreams are made of.Zella Maybe

Isn't it charming looking? I'm all for super elaborate desserts, but for those of us who lack a cake artist's skills, as I've said in a past recipe post or two, it is seriously lovely to have options like this that anyone can make and which still garner "ooohs and awwws" from those who see them. :)

I hope you had a fantastic weekend and that things are well on your end, my sweet friend.

I'm Jessica, a lifelong lover of all things antique and vintage, especially those from the 1930s, 40s and 50s.

This blog is my visual scrapbook in which I record and share my thoughts on the multitude of sources, people and products that inspire and feed a modern gal's addiction to the past. I also post about the vintage clothes, hairstyles and make-up looks that I adore wearing.

Stay a spell and have a blast as we explore the incomparably fantastic world of vintage history and fashion together.

All images used on this site are credited to their original posters/creators/sources,
however if at any time you would prefer not to see one of your images here, please email me and I'll take it down right away.

PS...I just wanted to say thank you very much for visiting and to tell you that you're equal parts awesome and beautiful.